Australian fans of BTS have had enough of Ticketmaster's little surprise party, where the only surprise is how much money you're about to lose. The ticketing giant has announced concerts at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium and Sydney's Accor Stadium in February 2027 as part of the K-pop group's comeback tour after a four-year hiatus, but has refused to reveal ticket prices until fans are already in the digital queue - a move the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) has called "manipulative" and "deeply unfair."
Ticketmaster's website states that "ticket prices will be made available once the Waiting Room opens," which is a bit like a restaurant telling you the menu prices only after you've sat down and ordered a drink. Fans, known as the BTS Army, are rallying on social media to file complaints with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), noting that other countries on the tour's Asian leg got price details in advance. To add insult to injury, fans must also pay a fee to become an official Army member on the Weverse app just to access presale tickets.
Erin Turner, CEO of the CPRC, told the Guardian that "fans really face the prospect of being manipulated and tricked into spending more than they necessarily need to for a show" when forced to make split-second financial decisions under a strict time limit. The ACCC, in a statement, noted that under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), businesses must display clear prices and not mislead consumers, but conceded that companies are not required to state prices well in advance. In April, the federal government introduced a bill targeting manipulative digital "dark patterns," which Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh has described as "the online equivalent of a salesperson who won't let you leave the store." If passed, those new laws won't take effect until July 1 next year - leaving Australian BTS fans to navigate a high-pressure ticket maze with their wallets on the line.